Just Listed in the Poconos: Classic A-Frame in Lake Naomi
The agency owner who bought and rehabbed this vintage vacation home learned when it was built when he did. And that gave him a clever idea.
It’s hard to call an A-frame house self-effacing, but the green color scheme of this nicely restored classic A-frame at 2394 Overlook Dr., Pocono Pines, Pa. 18350, makes it blend in with the woods that surround it. Inside, you may feel as though you’re reliving your youth if you’re of a certain age. | Photos courtesy Michael Dembinski, Dembinski Realty Company
Where were you in the summer of 1969?
If you were like what seems to have been half the Baby Boomers on the East Coast, you were rockin’ out (and probably getting stoned) at the three-day Woodstock music festival near Bethel, N.Y.
Or maybe you were like the other half of those Baby Boomers, the ones who spent the “Summer of Soul” groovin’ to the sounds of the top R&B, soul and funk acts who performed at the summer-long Harlem Cultural Festival.
Or perhaps, like me, you were a little too young to head to a music festival and didn’t live in New York City. In that case, you may have spent your summer, or part of it at least, in a sleep-away camp in the woods like these places in the Poconos.
Or maybe your family had their own vacation home like this Lake Naomi A-frame house for sale.
In which case, Michael Dembinski, founder and owner of Dembinski Real Estate in Pocono Pines, hopes to trigger fond memories with this house, which he has turned into “Camp Summer of ’69.”
This truly classic A-frame was built the year before, in 1968, and that was what led Dembinski to outfit it with all sorts of outdoorsy Sixties memorabilia. He also chose a green-dominant color scheme with red accents as a way to tie the house into its wooded surroundings.
Like many real estate agents, Dembinski also builds and renovates houses from time to time, and he was looking for a chance to either reuse or replace a house that hadn’t been used much over the past several years when he ran across this one.
Living room
“I had bought the house sight unseen, so I assumed that it might be a teardown,” he said of this house. “I had contacted the previous owner to see if they wanted to sell it, and they did. But when I walked in, I saw that it could be renovated. It had been cared for by the same family for more than 50 years.
“So what I did was, I wanted to restore it so a new family could enjoy it.” Since Dembinski already owns the Lake Naomi house he lives in, he didn’t need it himself. As for the theme, “I tried to recreate that summer-of-’69 feel because I assume that would have been the first summer they used it.”
Living room, view from primary bedroom
The house has many classic Sixties design elements. In addition to the A-frame construction, it also has plenty of knotty pine inside, and its original kitchen cabinets remain in place. The renovation gave it new wide-plank hardwood floors, though.
Living-room ceiling and chandelier
The full-height living room — another A-frame trademark — has a stone fireplace as its focal point. It also has a chandelier made from buck antlers, another rustic-lodge staple.
Kitchen
What isn’t a staple are the door handles Dembinski put on the kitchen cabinets. Those too come from antlers. The appliances and quartz countertop are brand-new.
Bathroom and sauna
This A-frame packs a lot into its compact footprint: A living/dining room, a full kitchen, three bedrooms, a full bath and a sauna. The sauna came as a surprise, he says.
Main-floor small bedroom
Two of the bedrooms lie beyond the kitchen on the first floor. Both have been decorated with Sixties and camp memorabilia.
Main-floor large bedroom
Backyard and rear elevation
A door leads from the larger bedroom to the house’s spacious backyard, where you will find a fire pit ringed with Adirondack chairs like the ones on the front deck.
Primary bedroom
Primary bedroom sitting area
The primary bedroom on the second floor is open to the floor below via a balcony overlook, but the fireplace chimney gives it a modicum of privacy. It has enough room for you to put in a work desk if you so desire.
Given that this house is part of the Lake Naomi community, you can join the Lake Naomi Club if you so desire. This gives you access to the clubhouse and its restaurant, two outdoor pools and an indoor one, a 56,000-square-foot community center with a fitness center inside, tennis courts, a golf course and seven beaches. You can also go sailing and fishing on the lake.
The listing agent’s description calls this house “sure to impress any A-frame enthusiast who enjoys searching for ideas on Etsy, Pinterest and Instagram,” and I couldn’t agree more. I wouldn’t want to muck with a classic house like this Lake Naomi A-frame house for sale, but if you find it a little cramped, the good news is that you can build additions to the sides and rear of this house.
And given that this classic Sixties A-frame is surrounded by million-dollar houses, you will also find that if you buy this one, you will be buying your way into one of the nicest residential communities the Poconos has to offer for a bargain price.
And if you weren’t even born yet in 1969? Buy this house and learn what your parents wax nostalgic about.
THE FINE PRINT
BEDS: 3
BATHS: 1
SQUARE FEET: 1,095
SALE PRICE: $319,900
2394 Overlook Lane, Pocono Pines, Pa. 18350 [Andie L. Gerhard | Dembinski Realty Company]
